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Using “Toolbox” on the Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung is known for tossing all sorts of gimmicky software features into its flagship Galaxy phones. Some are neat tricks that you’ll seldom use, while others look great on a press event stage and almost no where else. But the new Galaxy S5 has one in particular that is actually pretty useful – it’s called Toolbox.

Toolbox is in a way a lot like some of the floating apps we have seen over the last year (Chat Heads or Floating Notifications), in that it displays itself as a circle that floats with you to any screen. It can go transparent if you aren’t using it much and light back up the minute you touch it. It’s useful, though, because you can attach five of your favorite apps to it, making them accessible anywhere.

In the video, you’ll see how you could use it to jump back into the browser to grab a phone number while starting out in the dialer. Or maybe you are in the middle of browsing Droid Life and then realize you need quick access to the camera – a tap on Toolbox could provide you with a shortcut to the camera app.

To see it in action, along with a quick setup tutorial, check out the video below.

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It’s like the “superman” app. Or even better than those is “side bar” that does not get in the way at all and is activated by touching the invisible bar that you place where you want, and the apps appears, and not just favorites but “home” button and alike as well as “drawer” So this “toolbar” button is not impressive and a waste of time really….

This looks pretty good, but I have been using Sidebar for a long time and it can hold an unlimited (as far as I can tell) amount of apps and it also shows up by swiping from the side from inside any other app.

Bald_Sasquach

I’ve been using sidebar and swypepad simultaneously for 2 months and I still find myself using swypepad far more often. I prefer knowing where all my shortcuts are without having them rearrange based on usage. That way I can still pull up shazam or others without looking. I can’t get sidebar to pull out everytime on my G2 either. Maybe I’m not starting close enough to the edge with these tiny bezels

The Narrator

Bezels just kill it. I guess I’m spoiled

Guest

Or just not knowing much about smartphone tech LOL

Arian

Jesus Christ that phone is fast. I was shocked at how quickly Chrome opened there. The only reason I’m not feeling the S5 is because my S3 is lag central… it takes forever for anything to open. But if the S5 is really this fast then I might stay with Samsung…

The Narrator

there’s faster out there

Mike Ampaabeng

Bro WE KNOW…

pyro74boy .

You have to remember that the S5 is a major improve over the S3 and is running a quad core CPU

WestFiasco

The S3 I9300 has a quad core processor.

pyro74boy .

I was talking about the U.S LTE version

4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280 x 720)

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Dimensions: 5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 inches

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5 GHz dual core CPU

Weight: 4.73 ounces

2GB RAM

16GB Internal storage

Up to 64GB expandable memory (microSD)

2100mAh battery

Bluetooth 4.0

MicroUSB

4G LTE / HSPA+

8MP Camera w/ LED Flash (4x zoom)

1.9MP Front-facing camera

S Beam capable
I don’t just post without doing my homework.

YOU FAIL

WestFiasco

If that’s the way you see it, fine.

Alix8821

Kit Kat + Quad-Core Snapdragon 801… I’m in love with my Note 3. Such a BEAST. But still can’t wait for KitKat update

Dominick White

Wish that you could do more than 5, if you could i wouldnt put anything else on my home screen

n900mixalot

Well … The good thing about Samsung features like this is that devs create mods, like they did for Multi-Window, that build onto features like this to add more apps, different apps, etc.

Bald_Sasquach

Check out swypepad with the extra space add on. It’s amazing.

Brian

Circle Launcher is a great app that might give you what you’re looking for

xd feng

rigid flex circuits are also involved in industrical equipment manufacture. In industrial field, FPC connects steadily with conveniences in large machine equipment.

tylerc23

Anyone else think it’s a nice idea, but they went about it the wrong way? I would be super annoyed by that thing

n900mixalot

Well … Then you’d turn it off/disable it. Or just not buy the phone … Problem solved.

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